'CARL was paroled this morning!" the caller said. Carl’s mom breathes
sigh of releaseThe "Carl" in question was Carl Richie, the unluckiest guy ever to try to make a few bucks working the gray side of state prostitution laws. The caller was his mother, who has patiently and calmly fought for her son's release from prison.
Calm was what was needed. Because some of Carl's friends were shrilly attacking the powers that locked Richie up in the first place. There's always a time to be shrill but it usually isn't when the result is forcing your opponent's back against the wall.
In other words, you don't go calling the governor a complete and utter doodoo head and then ask him to commute your friend's prison sentence.
I always thought that common sense would prevail in the Richie case because it was hard to imagine the State of Hawaii wanting a stinker like this case dogging it for the next eight years.
For those of you who haven't a clue what we're talking about, here's a quick overview: Richie started a lap-dancing business on Kauai. Kauai police set up a sting operation, wherein they hired a few of Richie's dancers. They then busted the dancers, took them to the police station where they not only booked them, but ogled, fondled, grabbed and groped them. For that, some cops lost their jobs and the county of Kauai paid one of the girls a $250,000 out-of-court settlement, an amount she would not have made had she danced on every lap on Kauai and half of Niihau.
Carl didn't fare as well. He was convicted of promoting prostitution and racketeering. In a display of faulty judgment that would make a Macon County judge blush, Richie was sent off to prison for 10 years.
That was an eye-popper of a sentence, considering we have people who have killed other people walking around on the streets after doing less than five years in the slammer.
And I have to say I got reams of column material out of the Richie case. Every time some killer, rapist or mugger would get a slap on the wrist, I'd regurgitate the "Tale of Carl Richie" to show how unevenly justice is dished out, not just in Hawaii but across the country.
Carl's mom took these columns as an expression of undying support for her son, but I have to confess, my motives weren't that pure. The Richie case was great wall against which to smack other cases of outrageous misjudgment. The fact that someone's mother thought I was a great guy was just a bonus.
Even Richie wrote me from his Texas prison cell, thanking me for supporting him. His letters, written in elegant long-hand script, reflected the same emotionally measured response to his predicament expressed by his mother. The tone was not of anger, but mysticism as to how he got where he was, sprinkled with self-deprecating humor.
"I'm the only person ever, anywhere, where the alleged victims departed the scene of the alleged crime happy, smiling," he wrote. "I get it now. The sentence was so hard because it was a crime of passion."
That was just before Easter and he signed it "The Notorious C.R."
Richie won parole last week after 2-1/2 years in prison. And I'm happy for him. Although he might not be the most upstanding citizen in Hawaii and his chosen profession had little socially redeeming value, the punishment was way out of whack.
If authorities are hellbent to stop prostitution, they need go no further than across the street from the Waikiki police substation to find actual prostitutes committing actual prostitution under the control of actual pimps. And just outside of Waikiki they could find plenty of laps being danced upon every night.
Charles Memminger, winner of
National Society of Newspaper Columnists
awards in 1994 and 1992, writes "Honolulu Lite"
Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
Write to him at the Honolulu Star-Bulletin,
P.O. Box 3080, Honolulu, 96802
or send E-mail to charley@nomayo.com or
71224.113@compuserve.com.
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